Well yesterday I started on the legs for one of the pots..

 

Making all four of these things from a pattern for just the profile ain't too bad but then setting up to cut more angles and then rounding some of the areas brings more problems.. Jigs for small items brings ones fingers in about the same area of the blades of each machine so real thick gloves and my skinny vise grips I prefer to donate some of first before the skin ....

  You can see by the points of the feet, getting the starting point of each cut is not cut and dried kinda...

 

I do intend on carving  these feet before they get installed and thinking ahead, not a clue yet on the best and easiest way to get them installed to the base of the pot..... And thinking back to when I made this set of legs seemed easier than I had anticipated. Just getting them epoxied in and setting level was a chore.... Yesterday I was looking it over and there were pieces of folded up sandpaper under a couple of the legs I had epoxied in to make them level....Sometimes a person just uses what is there available at the time... I'm guessing I might have  

cut off the excess sand paper before the customer got them  but this went to wife's dressing table.

And like I mentioned before, the bottom of beverage cans is the perfect size for small amounts of epoxy that I seem to use a lot of  and especially when having to sit five minutes holding something in place while the epoxy sits up. Here again the scroll saw was the tool of choice in making the first shapes.

When making something like these legs with lots of cuts and grinding wood away, I find if I glue in a dark piece of wood in the middle it will be a guide for me to keep things more even as I grind wood away.. Otherwise its more of an eyeball kind a a thing!!!

I've been fixin places for the four legs.  Maybe the hardest part of building a tea pot, securing the legs where they look like they were built for that area.. Better looking lines.

 

After the legs are carved and finished I'll epoxy them in. Then drill through the legs in to the body a ways for some dowels......for extra strength ???

  Time it takes for me to build one tea pot.....about the same amount of time for a 4 piece bedroom suite. But the bedroom set would already have some kind of plans where I just wing it on a tea pot.  I make one piece at a time then try to figure out how it will attach to the rest and try to make it look like all goes together.Like on all the tea pots I have made, no two are the same size just so I will have to start from from scratch and resize all over again....A person first has to satisfy ones self, after that, just cross your fingers.

  This other tea pot I did the legs different... Now I got to figure how the set of legs  will melt into the rest of it and not look like a sore finger sticking out for everyone to step on.

 

  I mounted them on a piece of bb and the pot is just sitting there on the bb.

 

 

Edited May 24, 20187 yr by Smallpatch

Amazing! Fun to watch this come together!

 

Steve

Keep it going.  Enjoying the show and tell.

A little more work.. more thinking than actual doing something...

Now I'm cutting slots for the handle and spout to fit into. 

 The gap on the top is not there when pushed up like it will get epoxied together,I hope

I know I am quite late to the party here, but if it was me, I would cut back the spout about half inch to an inch.

Otherwise it looks right to me. 

 

OK since I posted this, I was able to see further progress. Looks great so far.

Edited May 27, 20187 yr by Charles Nicholls

I feel the same Charles. The spout is not epoxied in yet and I will pull it closer to the body before it sits up!

I spent the day getting mammograms so only had time to darken the accessories just a tad....as I now have both pots with all the cut ins for the handles and spouts and legs so now am thinking in another spectrum or would that be direction?

    Nope, I never check to see if this color will go with that color for I like surprises.. I don't remember seeing something like this at the the Queens shack in London but I'm sure she will throw all their stuff in the River Thames and call me personally once she gets wind of this here stuff!!!

55 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

I don't remember seeing something like this at the the Queens shack in London but I'm sure she will throw all their stuff in the River Thames and call me personally once she gets wind of this here stuff!!!

Looks great Patch. I like the contrast. Now to set those black pieces off, some rubbed in silver to accent all your carving detail would make the Queen drive over to pick it up personally. Of course that's easy for me to recommend 'cause I'm not the one who will be doing it.

A great start Jess, that privet is beautiful stuff, I wonder if it is kin to gooseberry.  What we call privet here I have never seen large enough to get a log out of.

 

Cal I also took up a plum tree and a juniper about the same time and I saved some pictures of those woods which had about the same red and white streaks so memory and time have a lot to do with my remembering anything...

    Did you get much rain out of that tropical depression. We are getting higher temperatures than I have seen them since being here almost 20 years  at the lake... and try to do the mowing right after a rain so I don't get choked down with the dust but this time of the year rain and 100 degree weather don't get a long together real good. I don't mean to say I mow when its wet for that is real hard on the bearings which I do all my own up keep but try to wait till the grass is dry but the ground is still damp.

  Now thinking after what you said about the wood the privet was smaller.

Too bad you guys didn't come to my house when you came through Texas so maybe I could use your memory to help me find things in my shop. I have to go and fetch Bernadette to help me look for lost things but she claims I try to hide things instead of neatly arranging them on the shelves or in drawers  after I use something.

 

Dave the black pieces will change a bit before I am through. I will try to lighten up the areas where a persons hands wore the finish off and where rags wiped and cleaned things for hundreds of years. Being shiny is okay but it needs that antique looking feature..

3 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Dave the black pieces will change a bit before I am through. I will try to lighten up the areas where a persons hands wore the finish off and where rags wiped and cleaned things for hundreds of years. Being shiny is okay but it needs that antique looking feature..

Fully agree Patch...looking forward to seeing this one to the finish line. This may be the best one you've done that I have seen. Should fetch a "queen's ransom.

21 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Did you get much rain out of that tropical depression.

 

We got a couple inches out of it.  We were on the eastern edge.  West Georgia and Alabama got hammered pretty good I think.

Amazing what some rain does to the lawn!  I mowed on Tuesday and it needs mowing again now...

"Patience of Job" comes to mind. Really meticulous work you do. Coming along nicely too!

 

Steve

Steve things sure changes when one is finally retired. I remember I use to think if I had more time I might could do a better job on this stuff. 

  Being that way now and things are not like I thought they would be....Now I use the least amount of money to do any of my woodworking. I also stretch all the projects out as long as I can stay interested in each project. I tell myself why get in a hurry for I will have to start all over again and think up something to do...again  And yes the compliments makes one want to do better. My problem is I am too honest when it comes to sizing up others projects...Things might go bad when someone ask, what do you think when they are showing their masterpieces.

 The private messages I get from folks seems to be ,,,,, when I do make something from seeing your stuff you have this way of shooting it down.... Or, the next thing I build you better give me a compliment on it or else I just might come see you... And I use to end things with. Always tell yourself,  I know I can do better next time...

  My mom and dad use to tell me that all the time..so I never saw nothing wrong with it....

Now I'm in the process of rubbing the black stuff down with 0000 steel wool getting ready for the final shots of clear lacquer..Nothing is epoxied on yet. This way I am leaving myself an out if something goes wrong.....I also like to use the 3M all pro flexible sand paper in a fine grit..expensive but last forever.

 To secure the pieces on to the body I have 3/8"matching holes aligning the pieces to the body in all contact points.. I do wiggle the drill bit a little in each hole for better positioning and I do know the epoxy will take care of the voids. 

  I will use thinned down 100% tung oil on the pot itself to bring out the beauty of the oak, uhgk.... then let set up for a few days or weeks before continuing.

  I do want to mention none of this carving looking stuff is any part of real carving... I actually ran out of things to engrave using the dremel with a very fine bit to make the indented lines.... So what I continued with were names of our families just to see if anyone actually pays any attention to what they are seeing when they look at an homemade object......

 By the way, the appearence of the black stuff will disappear with the next coat of lacquer...

Patch, gotta say, this is one of your best to my recollection...I can't say specifically why I thinks it's better, but this one really catches my eye.

The spout, feet and handle with the "carving" detail sure enhances the oak pot....